Chapter 19: The Next Trip
The next morning, Doc and Harley drove back into town, but we're met by an unexpected buzz. Everyone was awake and we're talking among each other. They didn't even get past the courthouse before Sheriff's eyes found them, and he quickly rushed over to Doc with a worried expression.
"Doc! There you are. Where have you been?" Sheriff asked in a panic.
"Me and Doc spent the night at Wheel Well!" Harley answered for him.
"What? Why?" Sheriff asked, but then shook his hood. "Actually, nevermind. You can explain that later."
"Sheriff, what's going on?" Doc asked, realizing that something had happened when they were gone.
"Follow me." Sheriff led them through town as he explained the situation. "About thirty minutes ago, this car drove in and-"
"A car drove in?" Doc asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. "We haven't had anyone drove in since that speeder Harley stopped was here." Harley listened closely to the conversation, but surprisingly didn't say or ask anything.
"I know. That's why this is so strange, but that's not even the oddest part." They got close to the V8 Café and could see white peeking through the other cars. "He doesn't remember anything." Sheriff said as they drove up to the café. Doc quickly found the stranger who looked lost and frightened.
"Good morning." Doc said to the mysterious car.
"Uh, morning." he said. He was slim, but he had a bad finish on his paint. It made Ramone cringe. It looked as if someone had tried to sand it then paint it with a matte finished but changed their mind halfway through and began to start over. He had a blotchy black hood with doors and a trunk to match; he was a chess board gone wrong. His tires were worn out and all together, he looked fatigued. His ice blue eyes were the only thing that shown with life. They looked at Doc then looked at Sheriff. "Who's this?" He asked.
"I'm Doctor Hudson, but you can just call me Doc." The small white car nodded his hood. "I'm a little worried about you; my friend here tells me you don't remember much. Is that right?"
"No. I mean yeah. Wait, hold on." the white car closed his eyes tight and shook his hood. "I'm sorry. My roof hurts…" he muttered then opened his eyes and looked at Doc. "I'm can't remember anything that happened to me." He said and Doc nodded.
"Why don't we head over to the clinic and I ask you a few questions? It won't take long." Doc already started to turn before the stranger could answer.
"Um… sure…" he began to follow Doc to the clinic as his eyes continued to dart around. He was quiet as he followed behind him. Once inside, Doc went over to a notepad ready to jot down any clues to what sort of case was going on here.
"Okay. I'm going to ask you just a few short questions, okay?" Doc asked the stranger.
"Huh?" the white and black car had been looking around the car, distracted by all the tools in the room. "Oh, sorry… yeah, go ahead."
"Okay…." Doc studied him for a brief moment. "Alright, can you tell me your name?"
"Yeah sure, my name is…. Is… um." The white car furrowed his eyelids. "I… I don't know… how do I not know?"
"It's okay," Doc assured him, "but I'm going to have to call you something. How about John?" the car looked at him strangely.
"Why John?" he asked.
"John. As in John Doe." The splotchy car still seemed lost. "It's someone of a missing identity and no one has claimed them yet."
"Oh, okay…." he said and looked away then looked back at Doc. "Then that's okay." Doc gave a small half smile and nodded slightly.
"Good. So John, what's the last thing you remember?" he asked. John bit his lip and furrowed his eyelids.
"Hm… well. Last night….There was flash. I think it was someone's headlights. Then it got dark. I slid? Maybe? I hit something, I… ugh… I'm not sure." John shook his hood while Doc waited to see if he would say anything more. "I remember it all went dark. Then the next thing I remember, it was sunrise and I started driving into this place." Doc nodded, made a few notes then looked at the car in front of him.
"Okay. I think it is safe to say that you have amnesia." Doc said as he slid his notepad to the side. "Now, all cases are different. Having said that, is there anyone you can think of that we would be able to contact?" John thought hard then shook his hood.
"I'm sorry, I can't think of anything past last night…" Doc nodded then remained in silence for a while before speaking again.
"I'm going to have to drive to the nearest city to figure this one out. Do you have a license plate number?" Doc asked.
"Um… I'm not sure." Doc drove around him and saw that there was no license plate to be found. He sighed and came back to face him.
"No… you don't. You need one though. Doc said and sighed. "Okay. I'm going to leave as soon as possible. I'll be back with some kind of news that will help us, okay?" John nodded and Doc returned it. "Good. I'm leaving the sheriff in charge. If you need anything, you let him know and he'll call me." Doc said and John nodded.
"Okay… I'll be sure to do that if I need to." he said as Doc began to gather his things. He then turned to leave and headed for the front door.
"Follow me." Doc gestured with his tire and John quickly followed behind. They drove back to the café where the others were waiting.
"Doc!" Harley said drove over to meet him. "So, what's wrong with this guy?" she asked with curiosity and a hint of concern.
"He has amnesia alright." Doc said and the townsfolk seemed disheartened by the news.
"Aw, sorry to hear that, Mister." Haley said with sincerity to John then turned back to Doc.
"So what are you gonna do?" she asked and Doc sighed.
"You won't like it but I have-"
"Are you leaving!?" Harley butted in with disbelief. Doc paused and chuckled softly to himself.
"Yes, Har, I'm leaving. I should only be gone for a week. Two at the most." Harley shook her hood.
"No… last time you said that, you got hurt…" Harley frowned and Doc copied it.
"I'll be extra careful this time." Doc promised, but Harley wasn't buying it.
"I do think you should leave again…." Harley muttered and Doc sighed.
"Well… I have to." he tried to reason with the younger car. "I have to try and help this car as best I can. I can't do that here, but in the city, I can. I won't be gone long. Like I said before, two weeks. That's all I need." Harley sighed heavily and looked at Sheriff then to John and finally back at Doc.
"Okay, I know you have to do this. But you better come home okay. Okay?" Doc chuckled softly.
"Okay." He said and turned to Sheriff. "Just as before, you're in charge." Sheriff gave Doc a small nod. "Take care of my Harley for me, okay?" Harley smiled ever so faintly as Sheriff again nodded.
"You have my word." He promised, making Doc smiled to Harley.
"Two weeks will be over before you know it." Doc reassured her. Harley quickly went over to him and nuzzled his fender.
"I'll miss you." she said quietly. Doc closed his eyes and nuzzled back.
"I'll miss you, too." Doc said and then moved to kiss her cheek. "I love you, and I'll be back soon." He began to drive off. "I'll call when I get a chance to!" He yelled back. Doc then went back to the clinic to finish getting all his stuff together and within ten minutes, he was on the road. Harley sighed.
The car that would temporarily be known as "John" was at the cafe with everyone else, meanwhile, Harley kept her distance. The only two who were not at Flo's that day were Lizzie and Harley who both parked at the front of Lizzie's shop. Harley looked down the street at the V8. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about the whole situation. This new car drives in and makes Doc drive , Doc was doing something nice for a car who needs it, but still. Did she hate this new car, or did she pity him instead? Should she maybe even feel excited that there's a new car in town at all? The questions and thoughts turned the gears in her mind. It bothered her and it was noticeable that it did, even to the elderly.
"And what's bothering the tiny?" The old Model T said and she rolled her shaky axles over to Harley.
"Huh?" Harley looked up at her and sighed. "Oh… um… nothing."
"Well nothing seems to be doing a number on you." Lizzie said and Harley looked down. "What's got ya down? Doc leaving again?"
"Well, yeah but…." Her voice trailed and Lizzie nudged her side.
"But what?" She persisted.
"But that new car! It's all his fault…." Harley complained.
"Oh…" Lizzie didn't say anything else. She waited to see if Harley had anything to say herself. And she did.
"Sometimes I wish Doc was…. I don't know…. different." with this, Lizzie laughed, causing Harley to simply be confused. "What?"
"You want Doc to be different? I couldn't see why!" Lizzie said looking down the road. "He's a good car!"
"I know… but that's why he left. I don't know… I just wish he thought of himself for once instead of everyone else…" Lizzie again chuckled.
"That's just who he is. Be grateful! Back in the old days I saw many cars. Yes, I've seen many cars drive through here, each one different." Harley furrowed her eyelids and looked up at Lizzie.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked and Lizzie now seemed lost.
"What does what have to do with anything?" she asked and Harley remembered Lizzie's old age and her fleeting memory.
"Uh… the old days… and Doc?" Harley sounded unsure if Lizzie would remember the conversation she was about to have.
"Oh, the old days!" Lizzie exclaimed with joy. "Oh, I remember the old days with Stanley. Oh, and Doc! You know, when I first saw a Hudson Hornet drive through town I nearly swooned! Would've given Stanley and engine attack if he would have seen my reaction!" Lizzie proceeded to laughed, but Harley only awkwardly chuckled with her.
"So, uh, you liked Doc, huh?" Harley asked and Lizzie stopped abruptly.
"What, oh no! See, Doc wasn't the first Hudson Hornet to drive through town! No, he was the second! Or third…" She thought for a second then she seemed to get a little more serious, which was unusual for the old car. "Harley, it's time for a life lesson."
"Wh-what do mean?" Harley cautiously asked. With this old timer, life lesson could be anything.
"When you meet a new car, ya gotta be Oh so careful! Especially if they're nice." she stopped then re-worded herself. "If they're too nice." she paused then continued. "You see, when Doc first came to town, he was careful. He wasn't too open, didn't talked much. He had manners and he minded them, he just wasn't… incredibly willing to speak or to do much for anyone. Now, that first Hudson Hornet came I to town, he was one handsome devil! He was young, much younger than Doc. Oh, he was a gentleman: sweet and kind; he was quite the charmer! He needed a place to stay, so he stayed in town for a long time. Never mad, never rude. He was just the perfect young car!"
He happy tone turned dark.
"That is, until we learned of his past… see, we caught him selling stuff, bad stuff, to other cars. He was liar, a cheater, a speeder from the law! Yes, he was no car you wanted to be buddy-buddy with. Well, soon's we found out, Sheriff locked him up and within a week, he was busted and put in the county jail. After that, I'm not sure what happened to him…." Lizzie paused then leaned down to get closer to Harley. "Be grateful, child. You could've been stuck with much worse." Harley then looked down the road and could hear the distant laughter of everyone else. From all except John who was still shy and still confused.
"Hm… I guess you're right." Harley said softly. "I almost forgot why I love Doc so much."
"Why do you love him?" Harley looked up at Lizzie and smiled.
"Because he's nice and he cares." Lizzie smiled warmly back.
"Awe, ain't that sweet." she had already forgotten the conversation the two just shared, and Harley knew it, but didn't say anything about it.
"See ya later, Lizzie" Harley said and began to five down the rickety ramp to the street.
"Goodnight, youngster!" Lizzie called back and waved a tire. "It's last me bed time. She muttered and looked at the sunset then settled herself and quickly fell asleep.
